Report: Impunity adds danger to Somalia's journos

NAIROBI, Kenya 
A report by a union of Somali journalists is urging the new Somali government to end the impunity which it says has contributed to making Somalia one of the most dangerous countries to practice journalism.

Eighteen Somali journalists have been killed this year and 44 since 2007.

The National Union of Somali Journalists said in a report Friday that impunity is a fundamental problem in Somalia. It says journalists in almost every region of the country commonly face harassment, blackmail, arbitrary police detention. The report said criminals are hired to suppress them.

The report says no police action or arrests have been made in any of the cases of violence against journalists. Somalia has been wracked by conflict for two decades since a longtime dictator was overthrown in 1991.